Seabirds are adapted to life at sea, catching fish for food. Many have waterproof feathers and webbed feet and feed by diving for their prey. Some sea birds (like Sooty tern and Frigate birds) are long-distance fliers, spending most of their life at sea, many miles from land, while others (like Fairy Terns) feed closer to shore. However, all seabirds have to return to land to nest and raise their young. The best places for them to breed are small islands with no introduced predators like cats or rats.

A beautiful long-tailed white seabird. The White-tailed Tropicbird breeds on almost every island, including the large islands like Mahe and Silhouette, where it nests in trees and bird’s nest ferns on high altitude forests.